Indian company to invest in coal mine in Botswana

"In Botswana, Jindal Steel aims to produce about 2.5 million metric tons of coal from the mines to run the proposed 300 megawatt power plant. The company also plans to look at exporting coal from Botswana and work on 'evacuation' facilities in the next five years," said Maroo.

Zizabona can turn around SADC power trade decline

The African Development Bank, the Development Bank of South Africa, the French Development Agency and Stanbic Bank of Botswana have reportedly pledged to fund the Zizabona interconnector. The agreement, signed and ratified by the four countries in 2008 is worth US$224 million. About US$67 million of equity finance is needed, with US$157 million required for debt financing.

 The French Development Agency will provide about US$40million, the Development Bankof South Africa will provide US$50 million and the African Development Bank will meet about 40% of the debt financing.

Consultations with financiers are expected to be conducted in October or December 2012, with intended financial proposals due by March 2013.

When fully operational, the Zizabona will, among other things, make it possible for Namibia to import power directly from Zimbabwe. Currently electricity from the Hwange power station is being routed to Namibia through South Africa.

The project is also expected to help decongest the existing transmission corridor that passes through Zimbabwe.

Letshego bullish on H1 results

“This led to the use of accumulated tax reserves that were approved by shareholders in the prior interim financial period, and resulted in a higher profit after tax base in that period”, a cautionary statement from the company reads.

The company says that the interim results will incorporate the results of Micro Africa Limited (MAL) from 1 June 2012 being the date of the finalisation of this transaction but will not have any significant impact on the profit before or after tax results for the interim period.

MAL is an established company that has been operating in Kenya since 2000 with subsidiaries in Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda and an associated company in Tanzania. Its operations entail the provision of secured and unsecured personal, SMME and Group loans.

Last year the company introduced products involving the perfecting of security, over the counter cash handling for loan transactions and mobile banking technology. The company has a current loan book in excess of P52.1 million, 21 branches and a customer base of over 17,000.

At the same time Letshego’s loan book shot past the P3 billion mark earlier this year following its increase in its African footprint. The company has also diversified its revenue streams away from its traditional cash cow market in Botswana.

Meanwhile BusinessPost understands that the operations of the Central Registries continue as normal and collections remain at historical levels through the deduction at source basis.

The Government’s central registry announced in September last year that it will no longer be the intermediary for collection and payment of credit between civil servants and corporates such as micro financers, which included among them, Letshego. However, the government was later to suspend the move citing reasons of ‘consultation’.

Industry sources say the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed entity’s which now offers macro loans of up to P200,000 over a five-year period collects at least P66 million per month in loan repayments from government employees who constitute 95 percent of its customers.

Letshego has operations in 11 African countries in Southern and Eastern Africa including in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia and has indicated plans to expand into other regions.

Lucara Reports Excellent Karowe Sales Results

Mr. William Lamb, CEO of Lucara, noted, "We are pleased with the results of the third sale of Karowe diamonds. The excellent value obtained confirms the high quality of the Karowe production. This is especially significant in the current depressed state of the rough diamond market. The success of the sale complements the ongoing successes at Karowe. For the month of August, design capacity through the process plant was achieved, exceeding our forecast. Infrastructure projects previously reported remain on track and are also contributing to the advances being made on the mine."

The Company expects carat production at Karowe to meet or exceed the previously published forecast for 2012. To ensure consistency of sale parcels, the Company has decided to hold fewer sales of larger sales volumes over the remainder of the year. It is anticipated that two more sales of Karowe diamonds will take place in 2012 with the next sale being held in November.

About Lucara

Lucara is a well positioned emerging new diamond producer. The Company has an experienced board and management team with extensive diamond development and operations expertise. The Company's two key assets are the Karowe Mine in Botswana and the Mothae Project in Lesotho. The 100% owned Karowe Mine is in the production. The 75% owned Mothae Project is currently in the trial mining stage.

Qualified Person

Mr. Anthony George, P.Eng., a mining engineer and Lucara's V.P. Development, is the Company's Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101 and has reviewed the technical contents of this news release.

Mount Burgess Mining pinpoints strong zinc lead anomaly in Botswana

The north-east trending geochemical soil anomaly has returned values of up to 236 parts per million zinc and 117 parts per million lead.

The anomaly may represent a parallel repeat of the Kihabe synclinal fold structure in this SEDEX style mineralised area.

Mount Burgess Mining is planning further geochemical soil sampling in the area, south of the Kihabe Resource, once current bush-fires have burned-out.

Soil sampling will be extended northeast to join up with a previously sampled area which resulted in delineation of the geochemical anomaly over what has now been drilled to produce the Nxuu Resource, 7 kilometres to the east of the Kihabe Resource.

Kalahari Copperbelt yields first mine

The new mine targets production of 36,000 tonnes of the base metal per year over a projected 15-year lifespan. It will also pump out 1.1 million ounces of silver per year, being the first large-scale extraction of the precious metal in Botswana's history. Speaking at the launch near Toteng, Khama noted that while the area's copper and silver mineralisation had been known since the 1970s, it was with Discovery Metal's arrival in 2005 that exploration moved to production.

"I ardently hope that the continuing exploration activities will yield positive results (and) I am excited by such prospects because if results are positive and economic to justify development, it means greater benefits for the nation," the President said.

"The development of the Boseto Copper Project brings opportunities for residents of Ngamiland to shift focus to trading in some sectors that the mine in their area would support."

Khama said while the Australian junior miner had become the first to tap into the Kalahari Copperbelt's potential, there were other potential mining projects "not far from this area."

One such project is being developed by New Hana Mining which holds prospecting licences for copper and silver covering 10,653 square kilometres, including the flagship Banana Zone. The Canadian firm recently completed a preliminary economic assessment on the Banana Zone.

Another explorer, Australian firm, MOD Resources, holds licences covering about 10,000 square kilometres of the copperbelt and recently identified 100 kilometres of priority areas for its exploration programme. At Friday's launch, a beaming Discovery Metals' chairman, Gordon Galt said commissioning and ramp up activities were progressing well with a view to strong and sustainable cash flows into the future.

"I'm delighted that the Boseto Copper Project has been officially opened and to be able to report to our shareholders that we have kept our promise and brought this fantastic asset on stream, on time and within budget," he said.

"This will allow us to fully develop the potential value in the new copper frontier that is the Kalahari Copperbelt."

Aviva Corporation chairman describes sales of Kenyan assets as a good outcome - Proactiveinvestors (NA)

He added that in Botswana, consultant Earthtec’s Environmental and Archaeological Impact Assessment for the Mmamantswe Coal Project had not identified any major impediments to the project’s development.

Aviva’s exploration licences for its coal project were also renewed for a further two years and it will continue to consider adding to its coal portfolio in Botswana.

Botswana’s Government had also presented in January 2012 the outcome of the Coal Road Map Review that the company believes provides many positives for the development of Mmamantswe.

Additional Diamonds Discovered in Cameroon | 4-Traders

The directors of Botswana Diamonds are pleased to report that two additional diamonds have been recovered from the on-going sampling programme on the Libongo palaeoplacer project in Cameroon.
 
The current exploration programme involves collecting a 100 tonne sample from each of three areas previously found to have palaeoplacer rock, in order to ascertain if the rock is diamondiferous.  The ultimate objective is to assess whether a deposit similar to the adjacent Mobilong deposit being mined by CNK of Korea exists.
One of the diamonds, a 0.25 carat near gem quality stone, was recovered from a stream flowing through the sample area.  The second, a 1.3 carat industrial quality diamond, was recovered from the crushed sample. The programme is expected to be completed within weeks.
 
John Teeling, Chairman, commented: "This is further evidence that our Libongo licence ground contains diamond bearing rock similar to that being mined close by, and that this project has the potential to deliver value to our shareholders. "The next steps are to undertake a bulk sample to identify grade per tonne and value per carat and to run a scoping study on the feasibility of the project."

Ex-BHP CFO to replace Carroll at Anglo?

Vanselow's Diamond Angle
What would Vanselow's appointment mean for De Beers? From a De Beers perspective, an Anglo American CEO from a mining company that also had a diamond portfolio can only be advantageous. He was involved in all major decisions about BHP Billiton's diamond division during the financial crisis years. He was CFO when the company adopted the unique marketing model that links the BHP Billiton rough diamond-pricing mechanism used in the long-term sightholder contracts to tender prices. He was also actively part of the decision to put the Ekati diamond mine on the market and for the company to withdraw from diamonds altogether.Again, it would be good for De Beers if Anglo American were to have a CEO who is quite familiar with both the challenges of diamond mining and of diamond marketing. There have been suggestions that Anglo American had been looking at a partial purchase of the Ekati mine and maybe, Vanselow as CEO of Anglo American, might suggest that the company takes another look at that opportunity. He would know Ekati from the inside out.

Botswana Consumer Bank International Graduate Programme, Standard Chartered Bank with Milkround.com | The Times Jobs

The Consumer Bank International Graduate Programme is an 18-month broad-based programme designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to quickly move into a leadership position. Whether it’s leading a team, running a budget or delivering transformational change for our customers, we expect you to lead as soon as you graduate.

To prepare you for a demanding role as a leader we’ll teach you everything you need to know about retail banking – from how to identify and mitigate risk to product innovation, to aligning the operations of the business behind our strategic intent. By teaming you up with our best senior leaders, you’ll build the breadth of skills necessary to run the business, shape our agenda and lead diverse teams in some of the world’s most dynamic markets.

Entry Requirements

To apply you must have:

• A Master’s degree, any discipline.
• The legal right to work in the country for which you are applying.
• Fluency in English; a second language is considered beneficial.

If you’re a natural leader driven to succeed and comfortable being a little out of your depth, visit our website for more information about the programme and the opportunity to apply.

STANCHART'S Chandra is banker of the year

"The BIOB plethora of activities provides a forum for banking members and guests to interact on matters of mutual interest and to come up with harmonized strategies to ease the intricacies and iron out any differences we may have in providing banking services," she said BIOB's mission is to promote and develop professionally qualified and competent bankers in Botswana, primarily through a process of training examinations and continuing professional development programmes.

Since its establishment in 1991, the BIOB has been the educator, enabling citizen employees of financial institutions to gain practical knowledge and professional skills and consequently, be able to play a more dynamic role in the banking industry.This year's ceremony was held under the theme, "Stop Fraud." First National Bank Botswana (FNBB) CEO Lorato Boakgomo-Ntakhwana highlighted that financial institutions should safeguard and build the security and integrity of Botswana's financial system:

"Botswana's financial institutions have fully supported the call to combat fraud by engaging in activities such as creating awareness, training staff to identify suspicious transactions and inter-sharing best practices with local as well as international law Enforcement Agencies," said Boakgomo-Ntakhwana. These combined efforts; she noted are critical to promoting legitimate economic activity and growth.

Stanbic Bank launches Agribusiness

“Stanbic Bank is committed to the agricultural community of Botswana. It is our hope that Agribusiness will assist in growing and developing the agriculture industry and help it to reach its full potential,” concluded Mr. Makubate.

Competition in micro-lending industry fast increasing, says Letshego MD

Letshego Holdings, the Botswana Stock Exchange-listed consumer lender, was established in 1998 and has since evolved to become a fully fledged financial services company with a strong foothold in other African markets, including Mozambique, Namibia,Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and most recently South Sudan.

Reduce inequality for longer growth

Mmegi: "The experts consulted with local fiscal, monetary and private sector players as well as other stakeholders in June, producing two reports detailing its assessment of economic issues in Botswana. In the second of these reports, a "selected issues" note released last Friday, the IMF experts said the gap between the rich and the poor continued to be wide, despite the expansion of welfare programmes and economic growth over the years.

"Botswana has been able to sustain high economic growth for the past five decades and is considered to be one the best performers in sub-Saharan Africa," the IMF researchers said. "However, not all of Botswana's policies promoted inclusive growth and human development in a broad-based manner.
"Poverty and inequality remain high, and the shortcomings of labour market policies are evident with an unemployment rate of about 18 percent. "Botswana's income inequality is one of the highest in the world especially when compared with other high middle-income countries.""

'via Blog this'

Firestone Satisfied With Recent Diamond Tender

Christie's Images	Enlarge
The Vivid Diamond

Diamond company Firestone says it is content with the results of their most recent sales of diamonds mined in Lesotho, calling them 'encouraging', Mining Weekly reported. The twin tenders, which were conducted in Gaborone, Botswana and Antwerp, Belgium, secured per-carat prices for Firestone's diamonds that were higher than prices from previous tenders.

Zimbabwe To Float Tender For Gas Exploration In Lupane

Industry experts say Hwange holds vast deposits of coal-bed methane gas, some of it estimated to be 95 percent pure methane - hidden between the area and neighbouring Botswana.

Energy and Power Development minister Elton Mangoma said US$12 million has been set aside for the quantification of the gas in Lupane.

"We are going to float a tender this month for the quantification of gas in Lupane to enable us to decide what sort of plant to put there.

"We hope that the documents will come back by October and between December 2012 and January 2013 we should have completed the exercise," he said.

He said work to set up the appropriate plant will start in the first quarter of 2013.

"The quantity of deposits will also determine what the gas will be used for. The first priority is power generation. If there is more we can use it to manufacture fertilizers as well as pumping it to people's homes for domestic use," Mangoma said.

STANBIC SUPPORTS Y-CARE

The Voice: This is not only an opportunity to raise funds and generate goodwill, but a team building exercise allowing our staff to interact amongst themselves and networking with other participants,” said Ruth Modisane, Stanbic Bank’s Public Relations Manager.

Standard Chartered launches new online banking service

Business Today News: "Our corporate clients in Botswana, Zambia, Uganda as well as a number of other international markets in our footprint, will have immediate access to these product innovations, without incurring setup costs or installation delays -- all via our secure online banking portal," Kwame Asante, Standard Chartered's Head of Transaction Banking for Botswana told media on Tuesday.

Letshego to open a bank in Namibia

The company executives last week confirmed that a banking license application was submitted to the Central Bank of Namibia in December last year. Namibia’s gross domestic Product (GDP) is valued at P84, 258, 230.84 and has a household debt of close to P18, 879.10 with a domestic debt as a percentage of GDP standing at 20.9 percent as at December last year.

Namibia has a population of 2, 147, 585 people and out of the 729, 000 formally employed, 88, 814 of them are employed by the government. Letshego, whose branches stand at 11 in Namibia started its operations in the neighbouring country in 2008 and currently has 37, 946 customers reflecting into a 43 percent market penetration based on total government employees.

Standard Chartered Bank Botswana open Airport Junction branch

Tswana Times: "I have also been informed that the Bank is looking to support the agriculture sector more extensively, by providing financing across the value chain to include not only institutions such as BMC, but also the farmers themselves," said Matambo.

Stanbic Bank Further Increases Involvement in Agricultural Sector

“Stanbic Bank is fully committed to making every effort to cultivating Botswana’s agricultural potential to the greatest extent.

Standard Bank Africa CEO visits

Botswana Gazette: Newson explained that, "Our key differentiator is people who are passionate about our strategy, wherever in the world they are based. With the bank turning 150 years in South Africa, we remain resolute and committed to Africa and I am taking this message to staff and customers. I also want to assure the key stake holders that Botswana is one of our key focus countries, and so this visit is a very important tour for me."

Govt dumps Sinohydro

The Minister of Infrastructure, Science and Technology (MIST) Johnnie Swartz announced yesterday that a 14-day notice of termination served to Sinohydro, expired on Wednesday. Initial completion date for the terminal expansion was scheduled for May 2010. Earlier this year, Sinohydro had pledged to complete the project by end of June 2012, Swartz said at a press conference yesterday. The contract was also terminated because the ministry was dissatisfied with the contractor's performance, according to Christopher Nyanga, principal public relations.

Stanbic, Barclays, FNBB win banking awards

Mmegi: ""With strong resolve, our winners have not merely looked to protect their interests but to secure a solid future for their institutions, investors and, importantly, their customers."The media house said with the global credit market quivering from debt crises in developed markets, the awards paid tribute to institutions that are tackling the tough times with innovative strategies."World Finance has observed how investment banks turn away from turbulent markets and look towards the untapped opportunities of Latin America and Asia to secure growth," the statement reads. "Commercial banks and groups too have been seen to be working diligently to ensure their loan books are healthy and their position in the market and with customers is strong.

Stanchart opens at Airport Junction Mall

Mmegi: He noted that wholesale banking is also a very significant part of Standard Chartered business. "We intend to expand our customer base in this platform, we will bring the right financing and risk management solutions as well as providing appropriate cash management and trade finance that suits their requirements," he said.Standard Chartered Bank is one of few institutions in Botswana offering competitive terms for invoice discounting and purchase order financing which allows customers greater flexibility in meeting their business obligations. "We understand the challenges of the SME sector and recognise the importance the segment plays in spurring economic activity and growth, and we will continue to find innovative ways to support our customers," said Lekaukau.

Stanbic gets Euromoney Award

Zambia Daily Mail: The award includes the financing of the US$80-million for African Rainbow Minerals’ Konkola North copper project in Zambia and more than US$180million for the Boseto Copper Project in Botswana.

Letshego faces growth challenges

Guardian:

Botswana’s gigantic unsecured lending outfit –Letshego must prepare itself for a decline on growth due to market saturation and intensifying competition, a report from Stockbrokers Botswana revealed this week. Historically, the local market has contributed a large chunk of the Botswana Stock Exchanges (BSE) listed company’s revenue. “We are of the view that the Botswana market, which has been the group’s significant market over the years, is now reaching maturity and we expect growth to slow down going forward,” Stockbrokers said in a statement but did not give specific figures on how much Letshego’s performance would be affected financially.  The company offers loans to formally employed clients, mainly government workers. However, the report added that the addition of a promising unsecured lender-Bayport Financial Services-would exacerbate the Pan-African company’s woes. Bayport, which just like Letshego operates in several countries, has grown from one branch in May 2010 to the current ten, with further expansion planned. Like many micro lenders operating in Botswana, Letshego has since started paying Non-Bank Financial Institution Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) annual levies, which are meant to finance regulation activities. Already the company has parted with 0,5 percent of its loan book for the 2011/12 financial year. Despite challenges in the economy, Letshego’s loan book increased to a historic P3 billion in the year ending January 2012, up by 32 percent when compared to previous reporting period. Botswana, as always, led loan book as it contributed 60 percent of net advances. Meanwhile, in an apparent move to deal with a decline in growth, Letshego has announced plans to enter into the banking area, which will allow it to be able to take deposits. It is still unclear whether it will also offer other services that mainstream commercial banks provide. The bank’s finance director, Colm Patterson, told a local newspaper that they have acquired a new system that will allow for the introduction of retail banking services.  A Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC)-accredited company Letshego has branches in seven African countries including Botswana, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Namibia and Mozambique.  More acquisitions have already been planned by the cash rich company, with a market capitalisation of P2, 7 million at the local bourse. The company is in the process of acquiring Micro Limited Africa (MAL), a financial company with centres in Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda and an associated company in Tanzania. Stockbrokers said the acquisition would further boost the company’s growth in the short to long term. In a statement accompanying the company results to January 2012, the company’s Chief Executive Jan Classen said they would tread carefully in their lending approach, since government has announced she will cut workers in the next three years.

STANBIC PROMOTES AGRICULTURE

The Voice: “Stanbic Bank is fully committed to making every effort to cultivating Botswana’s agricultural potential to the greatest extent. Exhibitions such as this, the Pandamatenga Farmers Show, serve as an important tool or avenue through which we can achieve this objective.  We, as Stanbic Bank, are very excited to have been on board,” said Kenneth Makubate, Stanbic Bank Head of Agribusiness.